Ruffles, Ribbons, Bows, Polka Dots and anything Pink!

Meet Ruth Nicole Greenfield - my daughter. Very weird to say since I just KNEW it was a boy, but I've gotton used to the idea of a little girl very quickly :)
I've already picked out her theme and crib set for her nursery and have had alot of fun finding cute little dresses and clothes :)



Here are a few of my favorite things I bought for her a couple days ago. I paid $1 an outfit.

When I was at Target today I couldn't pass up these adorable headbands. If I have it my way she will wear a bow or flower in her hair until she starts pulling them out.

And I found these adorable black dress shoes at yard sale for $0.50! How cute, can't wait to see her wear them with a frilly dress and tights to church :)

Maggie Kay

Here are some recent pictures of the little girl I watch, Maggie. She is going to be 8 months old next week. She is at such a fun age, talking giberish all the time, crawling, and she loves to play, preferably with things that aren't baby toys. She is a great baby and I've loved keeping her.

New Haircut

Well, I did it. I went and got my hair cut off. I was getting to lazy with my "long" hair and just putting it up in a ponytail everyday. And Ponytails really aren't a great look for me. This was the closest thing to a before picture I could find. It was probably from taken a month or more ago and my hair looked much longer when straightened.

And this is after! The day I got it cut. See how happy I am? I love having short hair, and lets be honest, its much more flattering to my .....chubby face.
Here are some more pics that Nick took of me to send to my sister, who now also has short hair. Check out her blog www.devon139.blogspot.com tonight to see pictures of her new haircut.

Ebay

I came across this blog a couple weeks ago http://www.mydeartrash.blogspot.com/ and could not stop reading it. Its about 2 ladies who buy "trash" aka designer clothes at garage sales and thrift stores and resell the clothes on ebay. I could not believe the amount of money they were making doing this. One of the ladies saved up over $4,000.00 in for months for her family vacation.

Now, anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE garage sales and thrift stores. I am always looking for ways to make a little extra money and I hate passing up great deals on clothes at yard sales because they are not my size. So, this seemed like the perfect fit for me! The first week I mostly posted clothes of my own that I wanted to get rid of. I also bought 2 skirts at a thrift store for $o.89 each. I posted 10 items and sold 6 with a profit of $35.00. Ebay does charge $0.25 for every post unless you are posting it for $0.99. I know it doesn't sound like much but for the $4.28 investment it wasn't bad! I have 31 items posted on ebay right now, and around 20 more to post. My goal this week is to make $100.00.


Here are some of my best sellers so far for the last couple weeks. I've been learning the bigger the sixe the better it sells!


These old Navy size 24 jeans I got for $0.50. The auction hasn't closed yet but so far they are going to sell for $9.99
I got this size 16 New york and company skort for $1.00 and sold it for $6.99

I bought these Ann Taylor Loft pants at a thrift store for myself about a year ago and haven't worn them yet. They fit my a little funny so I sold them for $7.99

I got these maternity shorts for my sister lasy summer when she was pregnat and she gave them back because they did not fit. I almost put them in my parents yard sale, but last second pulled them out to sell online. I'm glad I did because I made $6.99 from them. Much more than I would have gotten from a yard sale!

This was my first item to sell, one of the skirts I picked up for $0.89. Its Ann Taylor Loft and sold for $5.99

Saturday I picked up 5 pairs of Old Navy plus size jeans in PERFECT condition, some even with the tags on them. I paid less them $1 a pair and I'm excited to post them after seeing what the first pair sold for.

Birthday Blessings

Last week I had a wonderful birthday. I turned twenty - 20! Can you believe it? I've actually been telling people for the last month that I am 20. You see, when people hear that you are 19 and married they think that is way too young. But if you tell them you are 20, they think nothing of it, or at least not enough to say anything. But it doesn't really matter, I get reminded weekly that I LOOK 15.

I had to take some pictures of some of my favorite gifts because they are just too pretty! Yes, the Starbucks coffee is pretty! I hadn't had Starbucks in months because we are on a budget and Starbucks is not so budget friendly. I had almost convinced myself that coffee-mates peppermint mocha creamer in a cup of coffee was just as yummy as Starbucks peppermint mocha. But I was reminded last night when I used the last of my Starbucks gift card ( my wonderful sister-in-law got me) that nothing could be farther from the truth. That's ok coffee-mate I still love you and will now go back to using you daily. The beautiful flowers are from my sweet friend Marta. I love them, they look like they were made to sit on my dining room table. I would show you but there are alot of other things on that table that do not look like they are made to go there ( aka clutter!) . The last thing in this picture is my new fabulous green purse. I bought it at a yard sale with my birthday money. $3, don't you love it?

Oh, and I had to include a picture of my toes! Marta and Megan took me out to lunch and for a pedicure the day before my birthday. We had a great time and have some great lookin toes to show for it! :)

And last but not least, My amazing husband got me the dishwasher I have been dreaming about for the last year! I was not expecting it at all! He surprises me all the time. I wonder how long before the excitement wears off and I dread doing the dishes again. When I was younger one of my chores was to load and/or unload the dishwasher, and I HATED it! Now, after hand washing every dish for the last year, I look forward to loading and unloading the dishes. I feel likes I've just gained hours of my life back. : D

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special :)

In the Kitchen

For the last few weeks I've been trying to follow a no-sugar no-flour diet. I have a sweet tooth and I LOVE bread so I thought it would be hard to follow. Yes, I have cheated while going out to eat and on vacation, but other than that I've kept to it pretty good and I'm proud to say since starting I've lost 10lbs. I also feel so much better knowing that I'm eating food that is good for my body! Before starting this diet I used to make Spaghetti almost once a week, its easy to make and one of Nicks favorites. It also is filled with empty calories. So Tuesday I decided to make a different kind of spaghetti, spaghetti squash. 1 cup of spaghetti squash has 42 calories in it, compared to one cup of pasta that has 197. What an easy way to cut back on calories.

Here is what a did-
Preheat oven to 375
Cut squash down the middle, length wise
Scrape our all the seeds and stingy stuff in the middle with a spoon
Place squash on a cookie sheet face down, rind up
Cook for 30-40 mins. When its done the rind should be a little softer
With fork scrape out all the squash strings.

Looks yummy right?!


This is what the squash looked like after I was done with it.

I also made turkey meatballs to go with it. I could not find a recipe that didn't use bread crumbs so I made one up.

1 lbs ground turkey

2 Tbps ketchup

1/2 onion minced

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

some garlic powder, salt, basil, oregano and Italian seasoning.

Mix together with hands. Form balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30mins or until done in the center.

The verdict - I really liked the whole meal. I thought it was even better the next day. Nick thought the squash was just ok and would prefer pasta but ate his whole plate. We both loved the meatballs and I think spinach would be a great addition to them.

A steal of a deal!

It seems like everytime I turn around lately I've been finding the best deals! And I'm not complaining. Saturday Nick and I went yard saleing with some friends, it was kind of wet out so there were not alot of yard sales but we just so happen to stop at one that had clothes in both of our sizes. Nick got 10 shirts all name brand and very nice for $10. I got a mixture of 15 dresses, shirts and dress pants for $10. Brans like New York and Company and Ann Taylor Loft. All my size, even petite. Today I got some pretty awesome deals that I'm very excited to share with you, you meaning my mom and sister since you are the only ones who will read this! :)
The first picture below is two cups and saucers I got at a thrift store today, I paid $2 for each set and when I got home I relized they were starbucks brand and originally $19 a set! What steal!


The other pictures are of my sunglasses I got in the mail today, 10 pairs of sunglasses actually. www.hip2save.com ( one of my favorite deal/coupon websites) had posted a deal last week, 10 pairs of womens sunglasses for $10 plus $6 shipping! That means I paid $1.60 a pair. I was a little worried that they would be older style cheap glasses but I was pleased to find out I was wrong! They were all cute and name brand! Well except for 1 pair. But hey 9 out of 10 works for me! And they all still had their original price tags on them. I paid $16 for $240 worth of sunglasses! I love getting deals like that! I posted pictures of my wearing my 4 favorite pair. :)